Man Charged with Attempted Murder Linked to Anti-Muslim Attacks in Edinburgh

A man has appeared in court charged with five counts of attempted murder linked to terrorism, following alleged anti-Muslim attacks in Edinburgh.

Five people were hurt at various locations in the city on Friday night.

Lewis Hawkes was also charged with assault and robbery, breach of the peace and culpable and reckless conduct.

He appeared in private at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. The 36-year-old made no plea and was remanded in custody.

Hawkes was also charged with one count of assault and robbery, two counts of breach of the peace and two counts of culpable and reckless conduct.

All of the charges were "aggravated by reason of having a terrorist connection".

Two men were taken to hospital after being stabbed "multiple times" following prayers at Broomhouse Mosque on Friday evening.

A further three people were attacked on Leith Walk, while a taxi and a petrol station were also targeted.

Police Scotland said none of the injuries were life-threatening and an investigation led by counter-terror officers was ongoing.

The attacks began near Broomhouse Mosque in the west of Edinburgh at about 20:30 on Friday.

Two 22-year-old men, understood to have recently left Asr prayer, were stabbed multiple times at Sighthill Park and taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

A taxi was then vandalised at a Shell garage on Telford Road, about five miles away, at 21:15, leaving it with broken windows.

An image from the scene appeared to show a hatchet with a yellow and black handle lying in the back seat.

CCTV footage showing a man standing beside a black vehicle with its window smashed at a BP garage on Ferry Road was recorded at 21:28.

The video shows the man entering the kiosk before overturning shelves and leaving products scattered across the floor.

Further footage, obtained by BBC Scotland, shows a bare-chested man carrying two large weapons parking partially across a bike lane on Leith Walk a few minutes later.

In that instance, he leaves the vehicle before chasing a man on an e-bike.

He then returns to the car but quickly emerges again and runs towards a man who has stepped off a tram before repeatedly striking him with two large knives.

The man runs away, at which point the bare-chested man stops chasing him and instead turns towards a pizzeria, striking the door several times before the restaurant brings down electronic shutters.

The man then walks back onto Leith Walk and attacks a delivery driver on an e-bike, who falls off his vehicle. Police arrive on scene shortly afterwards.

First minister John Swinney said Friday's events should be a "wake-up call" to Scotland over intolerance towards others.

Swinney said he was "terrified" the incidents were the product of intolerance being "legitimised".

Police Scotland said it had spoken to more than 90 multi-faith organisations across Edinburgh in the wake of the incidents.

Supt Neil Wilson, of Police Scotland's Edinburgh division, said he understood concern among some communities had been "heightened" by the attacks.